The Amélia de Mello Foundation Gallery hosts an exhibition curated by FCH students
“O que (não) nos escapa” is the title of the latest exhibition at the Amélia de Mello Foundation Gallery, at the headquarters of Universidade Católica in Lisbon, curated by students from the Curatorial Practices seminar of the Master’s and PhD programmes in Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Humanities of Universidade Católica.
Bringing together works by nine artists from the CAM – Gulbenkian Modern Art Centre Collection, including Emily Wardill, Fernão Cruz, Gabriela Albergaria, Manuel Botelho, Margaret Benyon, Maria Altina Martins, Maria Antónia Siza, Miguel Palma and Yonamine, the exhibition invites reflection on the multiple dimensions of Fragility – structural, personal and frictional.
Available until June 22, “O que (não) nos escapa” is being held as part of the collaboration agreement between CAM – Gulbenkian Centre for Modern Art and the international academic programme The Lisbon Consortium.
“The Gulbenkian Foundation is one of the founding partners of The Lisbon Consortium, which we launched 17 years ago. And this is a programme that has become a benchmark in arts management worldwide. We are very proud of this achievement, but above all, we are very proud of our students, because that is what makes a programme: the quality of the students we work with and the type of education and skills they acquire through this initiative,” emphasised the President of Católica, Isabel Capeloa Gil, at the exhibition’s opening.
On the same occasion, the Director of the Gulbenkian Centre for Modern Art, Sérgio Mah, pointed out that “the way they chose the exhibition title is very interesting because one of the challenges we face in museums is how to attract the public and show them that they can have a truly meaningful experience simply by entering a building and looking for a few dozen seconds at an image, an object or even just an idea”.
As well as appreciating the works of art, visitors will be able to use a QR code in the gallery to access a podcast featuring the artists and curators from CAM, and a playlist inspired by the exhibition’s theme, which also includes a relaxation and reflection area designed to help visitors enjoy the space. The accompanying booklet was produced by Year 3 pupils from Sampaio Garrido Primary School.
“The booklet was not written by the curators, but by nine-year-olds. And this is not a performative gesture. It is a significant shift in power structures, a challenge to conventional ideas about who has the authority to write about art, and an expansion of what mediation can be, allowing the exhibition to reach places it would otherwise never reach,” explained Luísa Santos, curatorial and scientific coordinator and lecturer at the Seminar on Curatorial Studies.
Admission to the exhibition is free and it can be visited every weekday between 2.00 pm and 5.00 pm on the first floor of the João Paulo II University Library building.